Mitt Romney for President

Mitt Romney is the best candidate for President of the United States.

As I write this¹, Mitt Romney just won the Nevada caucuses in a landslide, taking 51% of the Republican votes. Ron Paul was a distant second with 14%. All the other Republican candidates were in the single digits. Also, today, McCain won the South Carolina Republican primary with 33% of the votes (again including independents). Huckabee placed a close second with 30%, followed by Thompson with 16% and Romney with 15%. The liberal media is crowning McCain with the front-runner jacket, and are pronouncing that he has taken the lead because the Republicans believe he is the candidate most likely to beat either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I don’t buy it. I don’t think McCain is going to get the Republican nomination, and I don’t think he is the Republican Party’s best hope to beat the Democrats. And I am not ready to repudiate my principles to win the election, even if what the liberal pundits say is true. Furthermore, current polls in Florida have McCain, Romney and Giuliani running neck and neck (although the Rasmussen poll has Romney ahead 25% - 20%), and in California one poll has Romney in the lead.

I. WHERE WE STAND AFTER THE SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY—THE END IS
NEAR FOR HUCKABEE, THOMPSON AND GIULIANI

Now that the South Carolina Primary is over—it appears that the race for the Republican nomination will be between Romney and McCain. The reason is clear: First, Romney currently has more delegates than any other candidate, including McCain. Second, because no Republican contender has more than 25-30% support at this time, it impossible to pick a winner at this point. Third, Romney is already in Florida, where he will campaign vigorously for the next 10 days—and he is expected to stress his economic message, which proved to be a winner in Michigan and elsewhere. The fact that the nation is currently facing the threat of a recession makes the economy the biggest issue for the nation. And Romney’s experience and understanding of economic issues is superior to that of any other candidate. President Bush and Congress are at this very moment discussing a temporary stimulus package to revitalize the sagging economy². All of this should play into Romney’s hands and help him in Florida. And fourth, the other three main contenders are basically eliminated by the South Carolina results. [A Rasmussen poll on Tuesday had Romney with 25% support, trailed by McCain and Giuliani with 20%. Huckabee was a distant fourth.]

(a) Huckabee needed to win in South Carolina, but he failed to do so. Although he only lost to McCain by a slim margin (33%- 30%), still Huckabee did not win. A candidate has to win some primaries. Except for Arkansas (where he was governor), there is no other state where he can expect to find the evangelical support that he will need to win. Huckabee is a great communicator, and he talks a good talk, but his governing record—especially on taxes and immigration—belie his words. Huckabee still has a mathematical chance to win the nomination, but the probabilities are poor. While Romney and McCain both have excellent chances to win numerous additional primaries—that is not so for Huckabee. Huckabee has said so many things that will come back to haunt him, and he has flip-flopped on major positions during the campaign. This will cause Huckabee to slowly fade in the remaining primaries. Although there will certainly be some evangelicals who will not back a Mormon, I predict that most of them will because the evangelicals are mostly people of principle, who support the same principles that Romney advocates. For all the reasons I stated above, true conservatives will have a hard time supporting McCain. I predict that Romney will pick up most of the Huckabee supporters.

(b) Thompson was desperate to win in South Carolina, and he didn’t. By finishing a distant third in a state that he believed to be the home of some of his most ardent supporters—this brought an end to the Thompson campaign³. He will continue to be respected for his loyal support of conservative principles, but he is not what the party is looking for in a candidate. His support will go elsewhere. I predict that most of his support will go to Romney, for the same reason that most of the Huckabee supporters will eventually back Romney—because he stands for the same principles that Thompson stands for.

(c) Giuliani has not had a good showing anywhere yet. He is counting heavily
on doing well in Florida, where he, Romney and McCain are all polling at about 20-25%. Giuliani is literally desperate to win in Florida. If he does not win there, I believe he’ll be out of the running. Whereas Giuliani at one time had a lead in the national polls, McCain has now overtaken him. Both Giuliani and McCain draw support from the more moderate (liberal, if you will) parts of the Republican party. Both McCain and Giuliani are regarded as men with the leadership skills that would serve our nation well. But neither McCain nor Giuliani are regarded as strict conservatives. Giuliani is pro choice and supports gay marriage. Put all of this together, and what you get is: McCain is currently taking the support from those in the party that might otherwise support Giuliani. Thus, Giuliani is suffering most from McCain’s resurgence, and it will lead to Giuliani’s bowing out of the race after Super Tuesday.

The combination of all of this will be that Romney and McCain will be the only two Republican candidates left standing after Super Tuesday. The biggest question then becomes: Where will the Giuliani, Huckabee and Thompson supporters go? For the reasons stated below, I believe that most of this support will go to Romney.

II. THE PROBLEMS WITH McCAIN

The problem with McCain is very simple: He’s not a conservative⁴. He is liberal on too many important issues. True, McCain has been strong on the war on terror, and this is important. But if he should win the Republican nomination, I, like his 95-year-old mother, would have to hold my nose in voting for him over the Democratic nominee. But at this point, I’m not ready to capitulate and support a Republican candidate whose political philosophy is too much like that of the liberals. McCain’s political philosophy is more like that of Bill Clinton than that of a conservative; he listens to what the voters want, then he decides what position he will take. Either for this reason, or because he really does embrace liberal causes, too often on important issues McCain has sided with liberals, against conservatives. Here is a quick list of John McCain’s serious political errors/flaws that make him unacceptable to me:

1. Campaign Finance Reform. McCain is one of the main proponents of this flawed law—the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill⁵. This law imposed serious limitations on political speech in the name of seeking to keep “special interests” from having too much influence on national, political debate. The restrictions it imposes on precious political speech is significant; and the law gives increased influence and power to the media, which continues to be heavily slanted in favor of the liberal point of view. This is an assault on free speech. McCain’s excessive zeal to curtail the speech of people who pay for advertising to advocate a political position is a serious error. His goal to keep money out of politics is naïve and unsound. McCain is the darling of the media, but his actions betray conservatism.

McCain’s excessive zeal for his ill-conceived campaign finance reform law led him to file a brief against the Wisconsin Right to Life group when that group challenged the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform law. McCain didn’t like the Right to Life group’s issue ad that ran within 30 days of a general election in Wisconsin. Fortunately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Right to Life in June of 2007 and struck down that part of the campaign reform law that prohibited issue ads just prior to a general election. This case is extremely important for two reasons. First it demonstrates that McCain’s priorities are wrong; he sided with his campaign reform law over the fetal right to life. I disagree with his priorities. Second, his thinking is infected with the ill-founded and erroneous notion that you can take money out of political speech, and that doing so is a virtue. This thinking is naïve, and is a rejection of the most fundamental principles of freedom of political speech, which is the bedrock of all our freedoms in America. McCain’s loses twice in this matter, and it demonstrates that he lacks the judgment to be our leader.

2. Gang of 14. McCain is one of those seven Republican Senators who undermined the effort of Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist, who was prepared to repeal that part of Senate Rule XXII (the filibuster rule) which empowered the minority in the Senate to block judicial nominations unless there existed a super majority (60%) in favor of a nominee. This Senate rule had come to be abused by the Democrats during administration of Bush (43); in essence, as practiced by the Democrats, they used this rule to control the approval of judicial nominees. This part of the rule—that is the use of filibustering to block nominees—should be eliminated. The filibuster can remain for legislation, as far as I’m concerned, but not for nominees. John McCain played a key role in preserving this abusive practice. He abandoned the Republican, conservative party when he exercised this power. This act of betrayal by McCain endeared him even more to the liberals. But it infuriates me. What kind of a leader is this? He’s not my leader. He seems more concerned about appealing to the liberals than to fighting for the principles of conservative government.

3. Immigration Reform. McCain was one of the authors—along with Ted Kennedy—of the immigration bill that they and President Bush proposed in 2007—a bill that would have in essence granted amnesty to the 12 million illegal immigrants in America. This proposal was soundly rejected by the American people. This proposal was a repudiation of the rule of law in America, and it would have rewarded those who violated our laws; it would have been an insult to those people who have faithfully followed and complied with our immigration laws. While McCain demonstrated his flawed judgment in proposing this bill, he nevertheless did show that he is a disciple of the Bill Clinton school of leadership, for when he realized that the majority of Americans opposed the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill, he eventually got in step with the majority. Well, that’s partly good, because at least he has changed for the better. But, McCain demonstrated flawed judgment; he demonstrated the type of leadership we can expect from Democrats, but not the type of judgment and leadership that this nations needs. We can do better than settle for this in a candidate.

4. He voted against the Bush Tax Cuts. When McCain twice voted against Bush tax cuts he demonstrated that he does not subscribe to the economic theory that appropriate tax cuts stimulate the economy and actually lead to increased governmental revenues. McCain voted with a minority of Congress—he sided with the most liberal of the Democrats in opposing the tax cuts⁶. Fortunately for the nation, McCain’s viewpoint was not successful. Those tax cuts
helped the national economy to recover from the brief recession that President Bush inherited from the Clinton administration, and those tax cuts helped keep the national economy strong despite the significant strains and demands of the war against terrorism. McCain’s position on this is another reason why the nation does not need and should not want him at the helm. Once again, McCain fought against the principles of conservatism and sided with his liberal friends on the other side of the aisle.

5. The Truth about McCain’s “Truth” Campaign. One of John McCain’s chief political strategies is to promote himself as the “straight talk candidate,” the candidate of truth, and at the same time to attack Mitt Romney as a liar and as a flip-flopper. In the first New Hampshire Debate, McCain attacked Romney for falsely labeling the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill as an “amnesty” measure. He criticized Romney for running false attack ads to attempt to smear him. Well, so much for the truth; McCain himself had called the McCain-Kennedy bill a form of amnesty. Romney had correctly characterized McCain’s position. McCain demonstrated that he is a great political counter-puncher, but to those who demand the truth—they will find McCain wanting in this quality. McCain’s attacking Romney in New Hampshire does demonstrate McCain’s intuitive ability to recognize the one candidate who will be his toughest competitor—Mitt Romney. But McCain’s attempt to paint himself as the candidate of “truth” is actually an untruth. In Florida, McCain continues to accuse Romney of changing his positions with every new, changing wind. But McCain is himself the master flip-flopper. Most notably, he flipped on tax cuts, and he flopped on immigration. While he can aspire to be the candidate of truth, he has not earned the right to wear that title.

6. Federal Marriage Amendment. This amendment would mandate that marriage in the United States can only exist between a man and a woman. Senator McCain has opposed this amendment on the grounds that it violates the constitutional limits of federalism. This is usually an acceptable conservative response to legislation that tends to infringe on the rights of the states. However, because the federal government—through the courts—has already pre-empted the states in the regulation of all major aspects of marriage, the only way to recoup what has been lost by the states is to enact a constitutional amendment. This is perfectly in harmony with the Constitution; an amendment is needed to address this matter; and addressing the attack on the family by passage of a constitutional amendment is good, proper and necessary⁷. And to those who nevertheless cling to their conservative rationale and who refuse to acknowledge the critical nature of the threat to the family, I would point out that conservatism is not the only important principle of government. And in this particular case, the normal conservative approach that is sufficient to resolve most governmental questions must yield to the over-riding critical family value that is under assault in our society. Furthermore, the Courts have already pre-empted the regulation of marriage by its long string of cases that have usurped state regulation of marriage. By this I am referring to the following cases: Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942), Eisenstadt v. Baird (1968), Roe v. Wade (1973), and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). Finally, I would note that Senator McCain does indeed find some protection in his citing “federalism” as a basis for not supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment. But what I see is that he is afraid to speak out on one of the most important issues of our day—he chooses to
wait to see if a super majority of the nation ever becomes supportive of this amendment. When and if that happens, I have no doubt that he would fall in line, and then run to the front of the line. But that is not the leader I am looking for. Conversely, Governor Romney has spoken out strongly in support of this amendment and in support of other issues to protect and strengthen the traditional family as the foundation of peace, prosperity and liberty in America.

III. A DISCUSSION OF ROMNEY AND McCAIN ON OTHER ISSUES

The War on Terrorism, including Iraq and Afghanistan. All three Democratic candidates condemn every aspect of the war in Iraq; the three of them argue over who would lead the nation to retreat and withdraw the fastest. Except for Ron Paul, all the Republican contenders condemn the Democratic plan for announcing a retreat date, and for premature withdrawal without first securing victory. In January of 2007, Mitt Romney was beginning his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. At that time, our military was suffering excessive deaths in Iraq, and President Bush was just announcing the beginning of the “surge.” At that critical moment for the nation, I listened carefully to what Romney would say about what I regard as the most important issue of our day. Romney supported the surge 100%. He recognized that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would endanger the lives of millions of Iraqis who had relied on America to help them begin their new government. He recognized that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would be an invitation for the terrorists to take over that torn nation. He recognized that America could defeat the insurgents. He recognized that success in Iraq could bring a lasting stabilizing influence to that important region of the world. Six months later, when the evidence proved the “surge” to be successful, it was easy to support the continuing war effort in Iraq. But Romney stood up for the tough, but right approach when it was not popular to do so. This speaks very favorably for Mitt Romney.

McCain, of course, is also supportive of success in Iraq. He insists that America secure victory before leaving. He proudly reports that he was a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s military strategy until it was changed (and the “surge” was announced) a little over a year ago.
It seems that the economy has now replaced Iraq as the issue about which most people are concerned, but in my mind, the war on terror and the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations continue to be the most important issues for the nation. The billions of dollars that America has poured into this effort CAN bring the world important and lasting benefits. We cannot ignore the radical terrorism that brings death, destruction and fear to peaceful people around the world. The only issue of significance between Romney and McCain in this area is whether or not waterboarding is torture. There is no consensus among military experts that this is torture. McCain says it is and he denounces it, whereas Romney would not conclude that it was torture. Romney insisted that it was best for America not to spell out all of the details of what kinds of interrogation techniques the nation will and will not use. Despite McCain’s vehement denunciation of waterboarding, Romney’s position is better for the nation, and he did not back down in the face of McCain’s condescending lecturing.

One final comment is in order following the Republican Presidential debate on MSNBC last night (January 24, 2008). In watching the debate, with many questions coming from Tim Russert, and in listening to Russert’s comments after the debate—it is clear that Russert and the liberal media is attempting to resurrect the Iraq war as an issue to take down the Republican nominee when they get to the national election. Up until last night, the economy had become the most important campaign issue. But the problem for Democrats is that the Republicans, and especially Romney, prevail on the debate of this issue. The Democrats are desperate to conjure a way to knock out the Republican nominee, whoever he might be. Thus, after the debate last night, Russert gleefully explained how he had painted all of the top Republican contenders in a corner, because they all supported going into Iraq, and they all supported leaving Iraq victorious. Russert could hardly contain himself as he chuckled that current polls show that six out of ten people today were opposed to initially going into Iraq and want to get out of Iraq immediately. What this means is that Iraq and the war on terror issues will continue to be important issues until the November election. Romney and McCain are on the same page on this issue.

Health Care. Health care is an important issue for most of the nation. Romney’s approach makes sense and avoids drawing the federal government into the arena. Romney’s plan keeps health care in the hands of private industry. Romney’s plan is the perfect answer to the Democratic threat to put universal health care under the control of the government, where there is destined to be inefficiency, waste, increased health care costs, and increased taxes to cover all the newly created waste. Senator McCain has not made health care an important issue in his campaign.

No Child Left Behind. This is the one area where I believe Romney is mistaken in his support because I believe it best to leave education entirely in the hands of the states. I believe this to be the best approach, and it is certainly mandated by the Constitution. At least Romney is seeking to obtain more state control in the implementation of this program. McCain has not made education a key issue is his campaign.

Abortion—Pro Choice vs. Pro Life. Regardless of which nominees emerge from the two parties, this issue will be a clear point of difference between the two parties in November. But for now, on the Republican side, between Romney and McCain, both candidates are pro-life.
Except for McCain’s lapse in judgment in siding with campaign finance reform over life in the Wisconsin Right to Life case, McCain has been a long and consistent supporter of the right to life. Romney is a relatively recent convert to being a political supporter of the right to life. By that I mean that while he personally has been opposed to abortion, he nevertheless supported the right of the woman to choose. Romney admits he erred in this; he points out that he changed his position on this once he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, and that as governor he sided with the right to life in the official acts he took. Romney’s recent conversion makes some conservatives suspect of how genuine his position now is. Romney points out that President Reagan had a similar conversion, and that he became a powerful advocate for protecting the unborn. I am satisfied that Romney’s conversion is real.

The Economy. Mitt Romney has made economic growth a key part of his campaign, and he speaks on economic issues very effectively. Romney’s experience in business for 25 years enables him to effectively present the conservative message on taxes, jobs, foreign trade and the myriad of other economic issues. No other candidate comes close to Romney in this important area, and Senator McCain is no exception. Huckabee tried to use Romney’s experience in economic matters to disparage him, by asking, ”Who would you rather have for President, the guy who works beside you, or the guy who laid you off?” But the truth is that America would rather have as president “the guy who can create jobs and who can make the economy stronger.” That would be Mitt Romney.

If McCain were to win the Republican nomination, this would devastate the Republican Party because many of McCain’s core principles are a repudiation of basic conservative values. While I might vote for him over the Democratic nominee, I would work with fellow conservatives to block him from undermining and changing the core principles of the party. McCain will never convince the conservative base to change their minds. The question is whether he can gain enough support of the more moderate Republicans. I believe that the majority of Republicans are of the same mindset as me in this regard. As a Republican, I have core principled beliefs that I embrace, and which guide me in my political actions and decisions. I will not repudiate my principles. I will exert all the influence I can to help the Party remain true to these principles. I believe that many, if not most Republicans are similarly committed to principles. This does not mean that the Party must be on the right side of every issue—for it is not. But McCain’s position on multiple important issues is such a major departure from these principles that I cannot support him as a leader of conservativism. Thus, if he were to become President, I predict that it would cause great disruption and change in the Republican Party.

But this possible disruption need not occur. Mitt Romney’s political philosophy is much more closely aligned with the party’s conservative base, and would actually be an improvement from the philosophy of President George Bush. Republicans ask “What would Reagan do?” McCain comes up wanting when the question is put to him. Romney does much better.

IV. ROMNEY WILL WIN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION

Republicans tend to be people of principal—this is an advantage for Romney. Both men communicate well and have demonstrated good leadership abilities. Each man has personality qualities and deficits, but nothing of great significance, in my opinion. I think the Mormon factor will turn out to be a non-issue. I expect it will be virtually eliminated when some of the evangelical leaders speak up in support of Mitt. Finally, Mitt is younger, more energetic, better looking, and has an attractive family, and brings a noticeable record of business success—all of which will serve him well.

A final note should be made regarding the Republican debate last night on MSMBC. Romney was the clear winner last night. He was given more questions than any other candidate, and his responses were lucid, forceful and persuasive. He was very impressive. McCain did well, too, but Romney looked better. No one is better than Romney in quickly stating his position and then backing that position with facts and reasons. Romney is looking more and more polished. He presents himself as a practical man who understands and can fix the both “Washington” and the national economy. He looks very presidential.

I predict that the majority of Republicans will not be fooled by McCain’s phony “Truth” campaign. I predict that the majority of Republicans will vote for their principles, and that they will reject the notion that they need to abandon their principles (and vote for McCain) in order to defeat the Democratic nominee. Thus, I predict that Romney will win the Republican nomination. And as long as we’re making predictions, I predict that Romney will defeat the Democratic nominee (whether it’s Clinton or Obama) in the November election. More about that later.

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1. The first major draft of this article was written on January 19th and 20th, 2008, right after the South Carolina Republican Primary results were announced. Thereafter, it was revised several times, until it was completed on January 25, 2008.
2. On January 24th, the House passed the stimulus package on which it and President Bush had agreed. That measure now heads to the Senate, where quick approval is also expected.
3. On January 22, 2008, Thompson announced that he was getting out of the race. He did not endorse any other candidate.
4. McCain knows this is his weakness. So he has begun to run television ads in Florida with testimonials from some of his supporters that state that McCain is a conservative. While McCain will insist he is a “conservative,” the problem is his well-known record, where he has consistently separated himself from the conservatives and sided with liberals.
5. Because of the serious limitations that this has on free speech, I have previously addressed this issue in CLU three times: “Campaign Finance Reform Act—A Monument to the Ignorance of the American people and to the Phoniness of Congress,” July, 2002; “The Campaign Finance Reform Case—An Ephemeral and Costly Decision” (McConnell v. FEC), May, 2004; and “FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life,” October, 2007.
6. McCain was one of only two to Republicans to vote against the tax cuts.
7. I previously addressed this issue in CLU, and explained the need for an amendment to correct the serious harm that court decisions have inflicted on the family. See “A Federal Marriage Amendment—Let the Debate Begin.” May, 2004.

COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS STATUTE LIMITING MARRIAGE TO OPPOSITE-SEX COUPLES

On September 18, 2007, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued the long-awaited ruling in the case of Conaway v. Deane (September Term, 2006, Case No. 44), upholding the constitutionality of the Maryland law that “[o]nly a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State” (Family Law Article, Section 2-201). The Court of Appeals by a 4-3 vote, rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that the Maryland law violated both the State Equal Rights Amendment (Article 46) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also rejected the argument that there is a “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage.[1]

Background.
Around the country, those who follow the development of gay rights and the effort of gays to secure the right to same-sex marriage had been waiting anxiously for almost a year for the Court of Appeals to rule. Several other states have weighed in on this issue, and except for Massachusetts,[2] all have upheld state marriage laws that restrict marriage to opposite- sex couples. In late 2006, New York’s high court ruled on this issue;[3] and the Maryland Court followed that court’s holding on the main points. Also in 2006, the Supreme Court of New Jersey came down with a ruling that upheld traditional marriage, but ordered its state legislature to create within 180 days a new law providing civil unions for gay partners.[4] But the vast majority of states that have addressed the issue, have resolved it much like the Maryland Court of Appeals. Judge Glen Harrell’s majority opinion gives a thorough treatment of all the key issues.[5]

Even though Circuit Court Judge Brooke Murdock had ruled in favor of plaintiffs (Deane et al, appellees), it was still the plaintiffs who had the greater burden on appeal because the appeal was primarily based upon questions of law rather than questions of fact; and the established law was not on plaintiffs’ side. If Deane et al were to prevail, the Court of Appeals would have to depart from traditional interpretations of the applicable law. Those around the country who have followed this issue saw the possibility that Maryland might depart from traditional interpretations because of its long history of recognizing and legislating rights and benefits for gays. But while Maryland was certainly at the forefront of such national trends, this history had a flip side that argued against the plaintiffs because for the last 30+ years, almost every time the Maryland Legislature would pass a law extending special rights to gays, the Legislature would also pass a disclaimer that specifically qualified the application of such rights—that the bestowal of new rights was not to be construed in any way to affect the Maryland law that limits marriage to only a man and a woman. Thus, while Maryland was at the forefront in recognizing rights for gays, the State also made it specifically clear from the outset that both the State ERA and the bestowal of state rights for gays did not extend to a right to same-sex marriage.

Maryland’s ERA.
With that background, when the case came before the Court of Appeals, the State’s history of recognizing gay rights was of only limited value—it was a double-edged sword, so to speak. The Court first addressed whether the marriage statute’s prohibition of same-sex marriages violated the State ERA. The Court had never before construed the ERA to invalidate the statute restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples. And the majority opinion again declined to do so.

Standard of Review.
The next major issue addressed in Judge Harrell’s opinion was which of the three levels of scrutiny to apply to the Maryland law—strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, or rational basis review.[6] The Court made a lengthy analysis of and rejected plaintiffs’ (appellees’) arguments that gays were a protected class, that heightened or strict scrutiny was warranted, and that there existed a fundamental right to marry someone of the same sex. By a 4-3 vote, the Court found no “protected class,” no “suspect criteria” and no “fundamental right”; and the Court therefore ruled that strict scrutiny was not proper. The Court also failed to find a basis to apply the intermediate (or heightened) scrutiny.[7] The Court held that the rational basis standard was the proper one (Conaway, p. 96).

To satisfy the minimal, “rational basis” test, “a statute reviewed under the rational basis test enjoys a strong presumption of constitutionality, [and] can be invalidated only if the classification is without any reasonable basis and is purely arbitrary” Conaway, at 97, citing Whiting-Turner Contract Co. v. Coupard, 304 Md. 340, 352 (1985). As long as the court can find any conceivable reasonable basis for the statute, it will pass muster. Thereafter, predictably, the Court found that there existed a rational basis for the disparate treatment.[8] The Court held that “the State’s legitimate interest in fostering procreation and encouraging the traditional family structure in which children are born” is an adequate and proper basis to supports limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.[9] Judge Battaglia, in her dissent, argued that the statute should be subject to strict scrutiny (not rational basis scrutiny), and she further stated that she would have remanded the case for a thorough hearing on the issue of whether or not the State could meet the burden to show that it had a compelling interest to justify the discriminatory treatment.[10]

The Equal Protection Clause.
In determining whether the Equal Protection Clause has been violated, if a challenged law affects a “protected class,” then the Maryland statute could be upheld only if the state had a “compelling interest” to justify the disparate treatment, and only if the court would “strictly scrutinize” the statute and the state interests to make sure that the stringent test had been satisfied. But, if no protected class and no suspect criteria is involved, then the Maryland statute need only satisfy the rational basis test (as explained above). Appellees’ argument that strict scrutiny must be applied was based primarily upon the argument that the marriage law discriminated against a class of people; and they argued that Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) supported this view.[11] But the majority disagreed and held that the Virginia law in Loving was blatant “anti-black legislation” and that the rule articulated in Loving was a prohibition from subordinate treatment of either women to men or men to women, as a class.[12] The majority applied the traditional, most widely accepted interpretation of Loving—that it prohibits classifying males or females as a class in the absence of a compelling state interest. Accordingly, because the Maryland marriage restriction applies to males the same way it applies to females, therefore the statute does not impinge upon the rights of any protected class.[13]

The Fundamental Right Argument.
The remaining major issue in the case was whether or not there existed a “fundamental right” of one person to marry another person of the same sex. To start with, it was acknowledged by all that there is a fundamental right to marry. But the definition of that right was subject to dispute. Deane et al argued that the fundamental right to marry included the right to marry someone of the same sex. But the State countered that the fundamental right to marry has always been limited by the traditional meaning of marriage—that it is between a man and a woman, and that therefore the right to marry has always been limited to the right to marry someone of the opposite sex. The latter interpretation was adopted by the majority.

The Future.
The majority opinion in Conaway v. Deane is 110 pages in length, and the three dissenting opinions added another 130 pages. (Judge Bell concurred with both Judge Battaglia and with part of Judge Raker’s opinion; then Judge Bell added a brief dissent of his own for good measure.) With that many pages of reasoning and rhetoric, one could certainly identify other important parts of the opinions that I have failed to address. And it is not expected that this ruling will end all debate of this important social issue. I don’t think anyone is predicting that the issue is now settled. In Maryland, I would predict that the next forum for this debate will be in the Legislature, where in 2008 I expect to see both a bill to amend the Constitution to restrict marriage to a man and a woman, and opposing bills to both legitimize same-sex marriage and to authorize civil unions for same-sex couples. On that point it is of interest to note that there is now pending before the Supreme Court of California, several “Marriage cases,” which have been combined together, and in which that Court is being asked to rule on the constitutionality of California Referendum No. 22, where the voters rejected civil unions and voted to restrict marriage to only opposite-sex couples.[14]


[1] It is not known at this time whether Deane and the other plaintiffs will petition the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, or whether such a petition would be granted.
[2] Goodridge v. Dep’t of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003).
[3] Hernandez v. Robles 855 N.E.2d 1 (N.Y. 2006).
[4] Lewis v. Harris, 908 A.2d 196, 200 (N.J. 2006). The Vermont Supreme Court had ruled similarly in 1999. Baker v. State, 744 A.2d 864 (1999).
[5] At the circuit court level, Judge Murdock had based her ruling on Article 46 (the state ERA) and on the Equal Protection Clause, but not on the basis of a “fundamental right.” The Court could have declined to deal with any issues other than those that were addressed by Judge Murdock. But at the outset of the majority opinion, Judge Harrell explained that the Court would be addressing other issues that are relevant, including the fundamental rights issue.

[6] Conaway, pp. 43-47. At these pages Judge Harrell identified the three types of scrutiny, and then proceeded to discuss which level of scrutiny was warranted to address the Maryland statute.
[7] With regard to the intermediate level of review, the Court addressed the issue of whether or not homosexuality was innate, and implied that if it were that the Court might apply either strict scrutiny or heightened scrutiny. But the Court, after examining various scientific studies on the issue, specifically declined to find homosexuality to be an immutable characteristic. Conaway, pp. 66-70.
[8] Of the dissenting Judges, Chief Judge Bell and Judge Battaglia argued that strict scrutiny was warranted. Judge Raker agreed with the majority, that the rational basis test should be applied (Conaway, Raker, J., dissenting, at p. 5). However, Judge Raker went on to argue that the Maryland statute could not withstand rational basis scrutiny. While Chief Judge Bell argued that “strict scrutiny” applied, he nevertheless concurred with Judge Raker’s analysis that the statute failed to meet the rational basis test. I would submit that Judge Raker’s application of the rational basis analysis is a major departure from the traditional interpretation and application of that test.
[9] Conaway, pp. 98 and 109.
[10] Conaway, Battaglia, J., dissenting, at p. 80. Judge Battaglia correctly pointed out that the case had not yet fully developed and explored: “Neither party has explored this issue in the depth appropriate to an issue of such permanent, transcendent magnitude.” Id. Of course, the case was decided on the basis of summary judgment motions, and the court had only been presented sparse evidence on sociological and societal impact of various child-rearing possibilities, and therefore the court was not in a position where it could properly rule on the compelling interest issue.
[11] Conaway, pp. 37-41. In Loving the Supreme Court held unconstitutional a Virginia Miscegenation statute that prohibited marriages between blacks and whites.
[12] Id., 41.
[13] Appellees argued that the Court of Appeals had previously ruled in Giffin v. Crane, 351 Md. 133, 716 A.2d 1029 (1998), that if a law makes sex a factor in a legal distinction, then the state ERA is violated. However, Judge Harrell pointed out that a review of the reasoning of Giffin in its context made it clear that the Court was speaking of distinctions between men and women as classes. Conaway, at 27. Judge Harrell pointed out that his conclusion is supported by the majority of the federal and state courts that have addressed this issue, including the Court of Appeal of Washington, that stated in Singer v. Hara,522 P.2d1186 (Wash. App. 1974) that to interpret an ERA in a way that requires states to permit same-sex marriages “would be to subvert the purpose for which the ERA was enacted.” Id., at 1194. The three dissenting Judges (Chief Judge Bell, Judge Raker and Judge Battaglia) all agreed with Judge Murdock that this interpretation is erroneous; they argued that since the law prohibits someone from marrying another based upon the sex of the partner, that this is sexual discrimination that violates both the State ERA and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

[14] That case if both interesting and important. The State’s Attorney General argued successfully against Referendum 22 at the first appellate level, where that court ruled that the Referendum was unconstitutional. The issue in California involves some of the same issues covered by the 2006 New Jersey case (Lewis v. Harris, 908 A.2d 196, 200 (N.J. 2006) ) and the 1999 Vermont case (Baker v. State, 744 A.2d 864 (1999)).

TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IS BEST FOR REARING CHILDREN

On September 18, 2007, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued the long-awaited ruling in the case of Conaway v. Deane, upholding the constitutionality of the Maryland law that “[o]nly a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State” (Family Law Article, Section 2-201). The Court of Appeals by a 4-3 vote, rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that the Maryland law violated both the State Equal Rights Amendment (Article 46) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also rejected the argument that there is a “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage.¹ It is anticipated that any future efforts to establish a right to same-sex marriage in Maryland will take place in the State Legislature.² When that debate takes place it will certainly include a debate of whether gay couples can raise children as well as heterosexual, married couples. Current studies demonstrate that married, heterosexual couples are better for raising children than other combinations, including both single-parents and same-sex partnerships.

The superiority of the traditional marriage relationship for the rearing of children is supported by both the advantages of marriage to the couple and to the children.

To begin with, the benefits to married partners are better than the benefits to single parents or co-parenting adults. Married men and women are more likely to be financially stable.³ Married adults have greater longevity, less illness and disease, better health and health care, increased happiness, lower levels of mental illness (including depression), and less substance abuse than both single and co-habiting adults.⁴ Homosexual people are at a substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional problems, including suicidality, major depression, and anxiety disorder.⁵ Homosexual women have a higher prevalence of substance use disorders than heterosexual women.⁶ Gay, lesbian and bisexual high school students have higher incidences of alcohol use, cocaine use and illegal inhalant use than others.⁷ The benefits from traditional marriage help parents to be better at rearing children than single parents and co-habiting adults.

Studies also provide direct evidence that traditional marriage relationships are better for the rearing of children than either single-parents or cohabiting adults, including same-sex couples.⁸ Dr. A. Dean Byrd states that “Mothers and fathers contribute in gender-specific and in gender-complementary ways to the healthy development of children.⁹ In support of this, Dr. Byrd referred to the following summary of Child Trends research:
Research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage…. There is thus value for children in promoting strong, stable marriages between biological parents.¹⁰

Dr. Byrd states that “extensive research spanning decades yields an overwhelming abundance of data supporting the importance of both mothers and fathers to the healthy development of children.”¹¹ In 1982 Baumrind concluded that children of dual-gender parents are more competent, function better, and have fewer problems than other children.¹² In 1991 Baumrind found that the combined parenting from a mother and a father in the home provided complementary benefits to the children.¹³ In 1984 Greenberger confirmed and bolstered Baumrind’s 1982 study; Greenberger’s study found that the optimal development of children requires gender-specific and gender-complementary contributions that a mother or a father cannot do alone.¹⁴ The difference between mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles have been confirmed by studies, including studies by Rossi (1987)¹⁵ and Shapiro (1994)¹⁶. A study by Clarke-Stewart (1980) concluded that fathers’ play and mothers’ play with their children are different, and that each offers distinct benefits to the children.¹⁷ Studies by Rohner and Veneziano (2001)¹⁸ and by Diener (2002)¹⁹ documented the unique contribution that fathers make in the development of a child. The absence of a father in the home has been linked to teenage pregnancy, child abuse, domestic violence and the need for psychiatric care. ²⁰ The discipline styles of fathers and mothers also tend to be different, and it is beneficial to children to be exposed to both styles.²¹ A study by Golombok, Tasker & Murray (1997) found that the deficits experienced by children in “father absent families” is no different than the deficits experienced by children raised in lesbian families.²² The adverse affects of the absence of a mother in raising children has also been documented. The 1998 study by Eisold confirmed this.²³ Research confirms that mothers and fathers are not interchangeable; each provides separate and distinct advantages for the raising of children.²⁴

Advocacy groups insist that same-sex parents can raise children as well as opposite-sex parents. But Dr. Byrd says that “studies on same-sex parenting are quite limited and quite limiting,”²⁵ and that most studies that have been cited in support of this proposition have either serious research flaws or other limitations that affect their conclusions.²⁶ In 2000, Lerner and Nagai made a detailed analysis of 49 studies that purported to show that homosexual parents raise children as well as married biological parents. Lerner and Nagai concluded that all 49 studies suffered from “severe methodological flaws, plus other problems.²⁷ These conclusions were confirmed by Williams (2000),²⁸ Nock, a sociologist at the University of Virginia,²⁹ and Stacey and Biblarz (2001).³⁰ Wright and Cummings also noted these serious flaws in their book, Destructive Trends in Mental Health (2005).³¹ More recently, a study by Wainwright and Patterson refuted the claim of some gay activists that incidents of delinquency and substance abuse in adolescents raised by lesbian couples does not differ from those raised by heterosexual couples.³²

Based upon this and other research, George A. Rekers concluded that children are better off raised by heterosexual parents than by gay couples.³³ A 2005 study by Dean Byrd also confirms this conclusion.³⁴

Finally, I would make the obvious argument that a gay couple cannot model a healthy male-female relation between the parents. This statement is beyond the need for proof by scientific study, but its importance should not be overlooked. Over 99 percent of society’s children have and will continue to marry in traditional opposite-sex marriages, where children will be conceived, born and raised.³⁵ There is nothing more geared to the happiness and success of individuals than a happy, traditional family, where parents are able to meet the many and varied needs of male and female children. It is advantageous to the children to have both a male parent and a female parent, each of whom can supply different but important counsel and leadership. When a child is reared in a home with a mother and father who love each other, this is the supreme situation that society can elect to establish. Restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples establishes this preference.

Scientific studies support the conclusion that biological parents are more likely to be better than single parents and same-sex partners in raising children.

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[1] It is not known at this time whether Deane and the other plaintiffs will petition the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, or whether such a petition would be granted.

[2] During the last two sessions there were bills offered to amend the State Constitution to limit marriage only between a man and a woman. In light of the recent ruling, it is not certain whether such a bill would be forthcoming in 2008. But on the other side of this issue, it is anticipated that gay rights activists may introduce a bill to do legislatively what they were not able to accomplish judicially.

[3] Wilcox, W.B. et al. (2005). Why marriage matters: Twenty-six conclusions from the social sciences. 2d ed. New York: Institute for American Values. Cited in the testimony presented by A. Dean Byrd (February 1, 2007) “Dr. Byrd Provides Testimony in English Court Case Regarding Same-Sex Adoption” [hereafter referred to as “Byrd”], p. 1. A 13-page summary of Dr. Byrd’s testimony is found at the website of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) at www.narth.com. Most of the studies cited in this article come from Dr. Byrd’s testimony summary.

[4] Waite, L. & Gallagher, M. (2000). The Case for Marriage. New York: Doubleday., cited in Byrd, p. 2.

[5] Bailey (1999).

[6] Sandfort, de Graaf, Bijl and Schnabel (2001).

[7] Timothy J. Dailey, “The Negative Health Effects of Homosexuality.” Insight, No. 232, Family Research Council (March 2001).

[8] Popenoe, D. 1996. Life without father. New York: Mark Kessler Books, The Free Press. Pg. 176, cited in Byrd, p. 2.

[9] Byrd, p. 3.

[10] Moore, K. A. et al. (2002). Marriage from a child’s perspective: How does family structure affect children and what can we do about it? Child Trends Research Brief (Washington D.C.: Child Trends) (June), cited in Byrd, p. 3.

[11] Byrd, p. 8.

[12] Baumrind, D. (1982). Are androgynous individuals more effective persons and parents? Child Development, 53, 44-75, cited in Byrd, p. 3.

[13] Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Adolescence, 11(11), 59-95, cited in Byrd, p. 3.

[14] Greenberger, E. (1984). Defining psychosocial maturity in adolescence. In P. Karoly & J.J. Steffans, (Eds.) Adolescent behavior disorders: foundations and temporary concerns. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books., cited in Byrd, p. 3.

[15] Rossi, A..S. (1987) Parenthood in transition: From lineage to child to self-orientation. In J.B. Lancaster, J. Altman, A.S. Rossi, and L.R. Sherrod, eds., Parenting across the life span: Biosocial dimensions. New York: Aldene De Gruyter, 31-81.

[16] Shapiro, J. L. (1994). Letting dads be dads. Parents, June, 165, 168.

[17] Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (1980). The father’s contribution to children’s cognitive and social development in early childhood. In F.A. Pedersen, ed., The father-infant relationship: observational studies in the family setting. New York: Praeger, cited in Byrd, p. 4

[18] Rohner, R. P. & Veneziano, R.A. (2001). “The importance of father love: history and contemporary evidence,” Review of General Psychology 5.4, 382-405, cited in Byrd, p.4.

[19] Diener, M.L., Mangelsdorf, S.C., McHale, J.L. & Frosch, C.A. (2002). Infancy, 3(2), 153-174; and Masser, A. (1989). Boys’ father hunger: The missing father syndrome. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, 23(1), 44-50. Both of these are cited in Byrd, p. 5.

[20] Blankenhorn, D. (1995). Fatherless America: Confronting our most urgent social problem. New York: Basic, cited in Byrd, p. 5.

[21] Gilligan, C. (1994). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press, cited in Byrd, p. 5.

[22] Golombok, S., Tasker, F., & Murray, C. (1997). Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: Family relationships and the socioeconomic development of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38:783791, 788, cited in Byrd, p. 6.

[23] Eisold, B., (1998) Recreating mother: The consolidation of ‘heterosexual’ gender identification in the young son of homosexual men. American J. of Orthopsychiatry 8:3:433-442,cited in Byrd, p. 7.

[24] Biller, H. (1993). Fathers and families: paternal factors in child development. Westport, CT: Auburn House, cited in Byrd, p. 7.

[25] Byrd, p. 9.

[26] Byrd, pp. 9-12.

[27] Lerner, R. & Nagai, A.K. (2000). “Out of nothing comes nothing: Homosexual and heterosexual marriage not shown to be equivalent for raising children,” paper presented at the Revitalizing the Institution of marriage for the 21st Century conference, Brigham Young University, March, Provo, UT, p. 1, cited in Byrd, p. 9.

[28] Williams, R. N. (2000). A critique of the research on same-sex parenting. In D. C. Dollahite, ed. Strengthening Our Families, Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 325-355, cited in Byrd, p. 10.

[29] Nock Affidavit, Paragraph 3. Halpern v. Attorney General of Canada, No. 684/00 (Ont. Sup. Ct. of Justice), cited in Byrd, p. 11.

[30] Stacy, J. & Biblarz, T.J. (2001). (How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter? American Sociological Review, 66(2), 172, cited in Byrd, p. 11.

[31] The esteemed psychologists, Drs. Rogers H. Wright and Nicholas A. Cummings describe this blatant and embarrassing situation as a trend to sacrifice science for a popular social agenda. Destructive Trends in Mental Health, New York: Routledge (2005). Dr. Cummings is a former APA President and a recipient of five honorary doctorates. Dr. Wright served on the APA Board of Directors. One of the important erroneous beliefs that Wright and Cummings bring to light is the unfounded assertion that homosexuality is innate and immutable. In 2003 Dr. Robert L. Spitzer published his research and findings that many people have successfully changed and repressed same-sex attractions that had plagued them for many years. (See Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, Oct. 2003, 403-417.) The Spitzer study is especially significant because he is the very man who years ago took the lead in advocating to remove homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders.

[32] Wainwright, J. & Patterson, C. (2006). Journal of Family Psychology, 20,3,526-530, cited in Byrd, p. 11.

[33] George A. Rekers, Ph.D., “Review of Research on Homosexual Parenting, Adoption and Foster Parenting.” University of South Carolina School of Medicine (2004).

[34] A. Dean Byrd, “Gender Complementarity and Childrearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree.” Journal of Law and Family Studies, University of Utah (2005).
[35] Study of marriages in Sweden and Norway, where same-sex marriages are allowed, reveals that less than one percent of marriages taking place there (between 1993 and 2001, after same-sex marriage was legalized) are same-sex marriages. Gunnar Andersson, et al., “The Demographics of Same-Sex Marriage in Norway and Sweden,” Demography 43 [2006]: 79-98, cited in World Congress of Families, “Homosexual Unions: Rare and Fragile,” http://www.worldcongress.org/WCFUpdate/Archive08/wcf_update_816.htm

Supreme Court Delivers Five, Important 5-4 Rulings—The Roles Played by Justices Roberts and Alito Are Key

On Thursday, June 28^th, the Supreme Court ended its term, by issuing several important rulings, five of which were extremely important, 5-4 rulings, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito combined with Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas to bring narrow victories over the four more liberal Justices, Stevens, Souter, Ginsberg and Breyer. A review of these five cases will manifest their importance. Conservatives will applaud President George Bush for two excellent appointees; liberals will be unhappy. But whatever one’s political persuasion may be, an understanding of these five rulings is important.

The summaries that follow are admittedly laced with this writer’s opinions. But there is nothing wrong with that. This is a private picnic event, and these statements do not necessarily represent the opinions of either my church or my city or of Jim & Sarah Olson. They are the considered thoughts of one who has followed the Supreme Court with great interest for many years. I hope my comments can help all of us to better understand the state of our Constitution.

Below are the five cases.

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

On June 28, 2007, the Supreme Court announced it ruling on an affirmative action issue that arose in Seattle, Washington and Jefferson County, Kentucky. By a 5-4 vote the Court struck down desegregation plans in both of these school districts because the plans were based purely on racial percentages and were not related to either of the two acceptable justifications for affirmative action, i.e., to remedy past racial injustices or to provide the benefits of a racially diverse student body. The Supreme Court has legitimized these two justifications for affirmative action, and the Court has stated that if a desegregation plan is narrowly tailored to accomplish one of these objectives, then the demands of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause are satisfied. But neither the Washington nor the Kentucky plans even attempted to articulate such a connection with its racial percentage plans. Accordingly, the plans failed to survive the strict scrutiny that the Equal Protection Clause demands of any racially-driven, governmental plan.

This decision once again pitted the five more conservative Justices with the four more liberal Justices. But this ruling is likely to evoke more criticism and commentary than the other rulings announced this week for several reasons. This is primarily so because it pertains to race, and there are a number of outspoken leaders in the nation who do not hesitate to speak out against racism whenever they can, whether or not the particular facts justify such an allegation. The dissenting Justices implicitly called for such criticism in their long and emotional argument against the majority’s opinions. But for all the protestations of the dissenters, Chief Justice Roberts and the majority correctly applied the law, and properly rejected the desegregation plans. If the dissenters’ opinion had been in the majority, this case would have stood for a significant extension and expansion of the types of racially-motivated, affirmative action plans that the Court has chosen to permit under the Equal Protection Clause. The Roberts Court wisely drew a line in the sand and took a stand against further expansion.

It should be pointed out that the Parents Involved opinions are 185 pages in length. Few people will take the time to read them, let alone to understand them. I expect that the discussion of this case will be limited primarily to name-calling and superficial treatment. The Majority will be labeled as “racists” and the dissenters will be hailed as the heroes of the down-trodden. Neither is true. The plain language of the Equal Protection Clause and the clear language of the earlier cases on affirmative action all support the ruling of the Court on this important issue.

The pages of opinions generated by the Justices in addressing this case was multiplied because of the acerbic dissent of Justice Breyer, who spent numerous pages giving his account of historical events and stating his sociological arguments for upholding the Seattle and Jefferson County plans. Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion devoted 36 pages to respond to Justice Breyer’s argument. The Chief Justice’s (the Majority) opinion, devoted thirteen pages to respond. But the Majority was not side-tracked; they got it right.

National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife

On June 25, 2007, the Supreme Court, in another 5-4 decision, resolved a procedural conflict between to federal agencies pertaining to the protection of endangered species, the result of which is to lessen the protection given to endangered species.

The legal question around which this case centered is whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)is required to consider whether a construction project would jeopardize an endangered species before transferring permitting authority to a state (Arizona). The Supreme Court answered this in the negative; they said that the Clean Water Act of 1972 requires that the EPA transfer permitting responsibility for a project to the applicable state once nine criteria are satisfied. And that is what the EPA did. Thereupon, Defenders of Wildlife filed suit directly in U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, requesting the court to order the EPA to first insure that a water project would not endanger the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl and the Pima pineapple cactus. The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the petitioners (Defenders of Wildlife). However, the Supreme Court reversed, ruling that the EPA had correctly transferred permitting authority.

Having given this brief description of the case, you might ask, “So what?” What makes this case important? The answer is that this ruling is a setback to those who have sought to place protection of endangered species as a higher priority than the primary purposes of other federal agencies and programs. The four dissenting Justices (Stevens, Souter, Ginsberg and Breyer) argued that the majority's interpretation of the Clean Water Act reverses a long-standing mandate that Congress must make protection of endangered species a priority over the “primary missions” of other federal agencies.

(J. Stevens, dissent, p. 2). But the opinion of Justice Alito (joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas) disagrees.

This case was necessary because of a difference in the Circuit Courts in addressing this procedural issue. It is not clear to me that the decision will necessarily be more or less protective of endangered species. I believe it will relegate to states more of the enforcement of endangered species protection; perhaps this will yield some inconsistent interpretations of law. But I favor this deference to the States; it should mean that decisions regarding the protection of endangered species will be made by the people closest to the situation, and therefore perhaps more sensitive the the affects and influences of such issues. It certainly divests the federal government of some control over protection of endangered species.

Morse v. Frederick

On June 25, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. ____ (2007) that Deborah Morse, a high school principal in Alaska, did not violate the free speech rights of one of her students, Joseph Frederick, when she confiscated a 14-foot banner that Frederick displayed at a school event, which banner bore the phrase, “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS,” and when she suspended Frederick for not complying with her directive to take the banner down.

This case was another 5-4 ruling, with newly appointed Justices Roberts and Alito on the side of the majority.

The key fact in this case is WHERE the speech event occurred. In most places and circumstances, such speech is fully protected by the First Amendment. But certain limitations kick-in when it occurs as a part of a school event.

The dissenting Justices (Stevens, Souter, Ginsberg and Breyer) complain that the suspension of Frederick was unfair; that the displaying of the banner was not disruptive; that the phrase did not encourage the use of drugs; and that Frederick had no intent to promote the use of drugs—that he was just trying to get attention. But the unique situation of the public school setting justifies the actions taken by Principal Morse in this case. The majority got it right.

The situation would be different if the student were disciplined for something he had said in an in-class discussion about drugs or politics or some other relevant issue. But when a student seeks to use a school forum to make his own speech, for his own purposes, his speech rights are limited because he has no right disrupt the school program or to use the other students to advance his agenda. And “disruption” should be broadly defined, and the school authorities should be given discretion to make the spur-of-the-moment judgments that they feel are best for the school. And their discretion should not be subject to review unless it is clearly erroneous.

While I, for one, disapprove of some of the public school curriculum that my children are and have been subjected to, nevertheless, the greatest problem facing our public schools today is the lack of discipline of the students and the lack of control that teachers have over their students. The increased freedom of students has led to significant increases in disrespect in classrooms; and this has in turn had a serious, deleterious effect on our public education system. If the school system must subject itself to recognize and showcase every student who decides to exercise his freedom of speech rights, this would lead to chaos. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Morse v. Frederick is a step in the right direction, to help the schools regain control so that the education environment can be better for all students.

Now, having shared my social commentary on Morse v. Frederick, let me say a little bit about the legal issues involved. The guiding case with respect to this school speech issue is Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969). In that case the Supreme Court allowed students to wear black arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War. The Court ruled that unless the speech [the wearing of the armbands] would “materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school,” then the conduct was protected under the First Amendment. In that case the students’ conduct prevailed over the school administrators. But in the case of the “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS” banner, the principal said that the banner was taken down because she thought that it promoted illegal drug use. The student denied that this was his intent, and a close analysis of the wording yields uncertainty about what the phrase means. But the majority of the Supreme Court held (and correctly, in my opinion) that the principal’s “on the spot” action to confiscate the banner was a “reasonable” action for her to take in controlling student expressions that could contribute to dangerous conduct (Roberts, C.J., slip opinion, at p. 15).

It was important that this case be decided in favor of the school administrator for one, big reason: The school should not be made a stage for national debate on current social/political issues. A student should not be empowered to take over the education system at will by asserting a constitutional right at any time he chooses. To allow a student to assert a constitutional right at any time he/she chooses would be to sew the seeds of disruption in the school. In fact, this disruptive effect has already been in operation for over 30 years. It has contributed to a decline I the discipline and respect of students and to an increase in the widespread disrespect that now plagues public schools.